The Sofia Municipality received final approval for a project for the construction of water supply and sanitation infrastructure from the Managing Authority of the "Environment" 2021-2027 Program. The investments cover 8 metropolitan districts, 7 neighborhoods and 3 settlements on the territory of Sofia.
The project proposal, submitted to the Managing Authority of the "Environment" 2021-2027 Program after approval by the Municipal Council, is for an investment in the water supply and sanitation infrastructure of Sofia on a scale that has not been realized in recent years. The total value of the grant is up to 100 million leva (51 million euros). The co-financing from the Sofia Municipality is over 36 million BGN (18.4 million EUR), as well as an additional approximately 89 million BGN (45.5 million EUR) for urban renewal activities. The total amount of planned investments is over 224 million BGN (114.5 million EUR).
„31 thousand families in Sofia Municipality will be connected to a new sewage network and renovated water pipes, as part of the largest water supply investment in the recent history of Sofia“, said Mayor Vasil Terziev
„We managed to secure over 50 million EUR in grant funding for Sofia's water supply network, on a scale that has never been seen before. We assessed that the amount of the investment should be increased so that after the construction of the engineering networks, the streets can be completed with new pavements, sidewalks and lighting. Construction work is about to start, for which we have announced all the procedures“, said Deputy Mayor for Public Works Nikola Lyutov.
Following an assessment by the Public Procurement Agency, Sofia Municipality announced 20 procedures for the selection of contractors, respectively 10 for the builder and 10 for construction supervision.
A total of 10 sites are to be implemented:
construction of the Leading Collector and facilities in the “Iskar“ areas and “Pancharevo“;
Water supply networks in “Abdovitsa” quarter, “Iskar“ district;
Water supply networks of the village of German, district “Pancharevo“;
main sewerage branch III of “Gorna Banya“ quarter, “Ovcha Kupel“ district;
Water supply infrastructure of the village of Ivanyane, district “Bankya“;
Water supply infrastructure of “Iliantsi” quarter, “Nadezhda“ district;
Water supply networks in the quarter “Modern Suburb“, district „Vrbnitsa“;
completion of water supply networks in the town of Novi Iskar;
sewerage pumping station in the „Orlandovtsi“ quarter, „Serdika“ region;
Water supply networks in the „Dimitar Milenkov“ quarter, „Iskar“ region.
The projects envisage the construction of a new sewage system, as well as the renovation of existing water pipes. It is planned to improve the connectivity to the sewage system and the water supply of about 31,000 residents with the construction of the new network. In parallel, old and depreciated water pipes will be replaced. The Sofia Municipality will invest additionally in the complete asphalting of the street lanes, the construction of sidewalks and the improvement of the urban environment.
The deadline for the implementation of the project under the “Environment“ program is until May 31, 2029.
Last year, the construction of a total of 86.4 km of sewage network was completed in 10 neighborhoods and settlements of Sofia, including “Krastova Vada – East“, “Dragalevtsi“, “Suhodol“, “Benkovski“, “Obelya“ and the town of Novi Iskar, Bankya – district “Gradoman“, “Mihaylovo“, “Verdikal“ and the village of Ivanyane. The investments were made under the project "Construction of Water and Sewerage Infrastructure in Sofia Municipality", financed by the European Union, with a total amount of over 140 million leva.
Deputy Mayor Nikola Lyutov pointed out that additional measures have been taken for the quality of work with this project. We have committed additional investments, with which we will ensure the complete restoration of the road surface and sidewalks or the construction of new ones. We have expanded the scope of the projects in order to avoid the deficits that we inherited in the previous projects and have made new performance contracts that more strictly protect the public interest, Lyutov also stated.